Little D
by PenNameless1994
Summary: After 23 years of silence, Dudley Dursley stops by his cousin's, Harry Potter's, house for a visit. What could be so  important after  all those years of silence? How about the face that his  daughter, Dorothea Dursley, is a witch?
1. Chapter 1: 23 Years Later

"Up!" The single syllable word reverberated through the air as the Firebolt- his prized possession since his Third Year at Hogwarts- rose to meet the hand of its black-haired, green-eyed owner, who, broom now in hand, proceeded to swing his leg up and over to mount the broom. With the next word, he pushed off the ground.

"One!" Harry Potter saw the ground below shrink and vanish as he rose into the air.

"Two!" Harry slammed his eyes closed, catching a glimpse of the blue sky around him.

"Three!" He could feel his ascension continuing as air streams began to tug on his clothes and threatened to tear his glasses of his face.

"Four!" Deciding to pick up the pace, Harry called out the next six numbers in quick succession.

"Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" With the last number, Harry cautiously opened his eyes and looked down at the clearing below him. To his surprise, he didn't see what he was looking for. _Where could they be?_ Leaning over the handle of broom a little bit more, he began to examine the outer ring of trees. _Nothing there. Hmm… They've gotten good._ A little more determined now that he knew he could expect a bit of a challenge, the tall man straightened up and gave the sky a cursory glance. What he didn't see, however, was the blur coming towards him from behind. Within seconds, first one, then a second, and then a third figure on brooms impacted with the middle-aged man in midair. Realizing he'd been caught, Harry knew he could only do one thing: he laughed.

"Gotcha, Dad!" The voice came from the first figure, and Harry's eldest son, James.

"Tag!" interjected the always excitable Lily, Harry's youngest and only daughter.

"You're it!" Al, the middle son, chimed in.

"Yes, you all did it. I'm it." Harry beamed at his children and caught them all in a great bear hug as they sank slowly to the soft grass. A chorus of 'Dad, Let go!' and 'You're squeezing me too tight!' promptly rang out the minute the four touched down. Harry acquiesced and released his death grip on his children and plopped down into the grass. His children followed his example and immediately began to climb on top of him.

"Oh, squeezing you too hard, was I? Hmm?" He asked seizing the nearest of children, which, as Albus and James had started to wrestle each other instead of him, just happened to be Lily.

"Hmm?" He questioned. "Well, how about this?" He started to tickle Lily, and she responded by squirming, squeaking, and rolling around to defend herself.

James broke away from his brother to watch his younger sister's attempt to free herself from the attentions of their father.

"You know," James began, "that squealing doesn't help you one bit? All it does is give me a headache." Lily, out of breathe and still on her father's lap but no longer being tickled, stopped panting to give her big brother the glare she had learned from her mother. Sticking out her tongue, Lily began to retort but stopped when she caught Albus's eye. Albus winked at his sister and pointed at James, who, unfortunately for him, had turned his back on his brother. Lily's eyes widened as she grinned maliciously and fired a response back at James.

"Well, if you're such a good escape artist, why don't you try and get yourself out of that chokehold?"

James looked at Lily like she had just been admitted into St. Mungo's mental ward. "What chokehold? You couldn't put me in one if you tried, and, in case you haven't noticed, we're, like, a meter apart from each other."Lily's only response was to look up at her brother with an innocent smile and devious eyes.

"Oh, I know we are. I was actually referring to the one Al is about to give you." With that, James spun on his heel only to be trapped by his younger brother.

Harry watched the entire exchange with a contented smile. Everything he had gone through was worth this, worth watching his family grow up happy, carefree, and safe. His thoughts were interrupted by Lily's high pitched cheering and his own sudden need to scramble quickly away from his boys' roving tussle.

"Harry!" Ginny appeared in the doorway of the house. "Someone's at the door!"

"I'll get it, dear!" he called back to his wife. He gently removed Lily from his lap and staggered up to his feet. He groaned a little as his bones popped. _No, not quite as young as I used to be_. Straightening, he caught sight of Ginny in the door, brown eyes glowing warmly as she watched their three children. Going to her, he quickly caught her up in a kiss. She responded with as much passion as she had when she was fifteen. She looked up into his green eyes and, as always, was awed by the depth of love they held. Nevertheless, she pulled away teasingly and whispered,

"The door?"

"Right," Harry whispered back and stole another kiss before pulling away from his wife and practically bounding around the side of the house to greet company at the front door. _No, not so old after all. Still got plenty of time left. _Harry's joyful smile, however, vanished as he rounded the corner and came to a complete stop. There, standing on his doorstep, head down and shifting his weight nervously from side to side, was a man Harry had not seen in twenty-three years. Yet, as improbable as it was, the still large, still muscular, and still blonde Dudley Dursely stood at his cousin's front door, for reasons Harry could not fathom. Harry continued to watch as his large cousin glanced around nervously. _Well, no time like the present to find out, is there?_ And with that, Harry strode forward, calling out,

"Dudley!"

At the sound of his name, Dudley Dursley whipped his head up and anxiously looked around for the source of the exclamation before he caught sight of his cousin, hand raised in greeting, walking forward to meet him.

"Harry!" Dudley responded in like, starting forward, away from Harry's front porch, with his own hand extended. Harry crossed the final expanse of lawn between the two relatives and clasped his only cousin's hand warmly.

"It's good to see you, Dudley. I honestly can't believe you're here. How long has it been?" Dudley ducked his head again and whispered to his feet.

"23 years." Harry frowned, noticing the aura of worry his cousin seemed to bear. He did not know what had brought the son of his magic-hating aunt and uncle to his door, but was sure that Dudley had been all but forced to seek help from him. Fearing the worst, Harry asked, not unkindly,

"Why are you here, Dudley?" Dudley squared his shoulders as though trying to gather courage (If not for the gravity of the situation, Harry would have smiled at the vague resemblance to Uncle Vernon's attempts to make himself seem larger for intimidation purposes) and lifted his head to meet his cousin's eyes for the first time that day.

He was taken aback by the concern for him, him, of all people, that sparkled in the merry green eyes. He guessed his cousin lived a contented life and was glad for him; however, Dudley also sensed the steel cable that ran through Harry, something that had only been there in minimum when they were children, and Dudley wondered at it. What was more, behind the happiness, those bright green eyes were haunted, although Dudley could tell that his skinny cousin choose to hide that fact. He wondered if Harry still had nightmares.

"Well, Harry, I…" At a loss for words, Dudley trailed off, but was saved by a small hand tugging at the end of his jacket.

"Daddy, is this the man you were talking about?" As surprised as Dudley was that his little girl had spoken up at all, Harry was a little more astonished by the sight of the delicate blonde-haired child he hadn't noticed before hiding behind her father's leg. Harry squatted down to get a better look into blue eyes.

"Hello." The girl's only response was for her lower lip to quiver, but she held her ground. "Who are you?"

"Thea." The syllable was soft, but clear.

"And, Thea, how old are you?"

"Eleven." Knowing there was more to Dudley's visit that what he had originally assumed, Harry looked up and invited,

"Why don't we go inside and talk?" As Dudley nodded his agreement, Harry stood up from his crouch and offered his hand to Thea, who rejected it in favor of her father's. Chuckling slightly, the lither man turned the doorknob and led the group inside.

The first impression Dudley got of the house was that it was a happy one. From the living room where he stood, he could see through double doors onto a patio and into the yard where three children played as a red-headed woman watched absently from the doorway and also see signs of their habitation in the light scattering of toys, one in a corner of the living room, another at the foot of the stairs. The kitchen table, too, which he could see in the room adjoining, bore a few signs of wear; however, the whole home seemed just that- a home.

Harry stopped by the couch and gestured for his two visitors to sit down as he did so himself. Thea wasted no time in hopping up onto the cushions, while her father lowered himself with the same stiffness Harry had had getting up from the ground earlier.

"Would you like anything?" inquired Harry courteously. Dudley only shook his head, while Thea politely declined. Harry, wondering how to proceed, looked at his young girl thoughtfully.

"I'll be right back," he assured his cousin as he stood and walked across the room to the back door and called for his daughter to come inside, please. From his position on the couch, Dudley could see curiosity cross the little red-head's face as Harry led the older red-head that had been standing by the door into the room.

"Ginny," Harry began, "I'd like to introduce you to my cousin, Dudley Dursley, and his daughter, Thea." Ginny smiled and reached out a hand.

"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Harry's wife." Dudley stood and accepted her hand as a bright, brown-eyed girl skidded to a stop in front of her father, announcing

"I'm here!"

"Quiet inside the house dear," cautioned her mother. Lilly had the tact to look abashed, although everyone in the room could tell it was an act, her mother included.

"Yes, ma'am. So, Dad, what do you need me for?"

"There's someone I would like you to meet."Here, Harry grabbed his daughter's shoulders and turned her to face Thea. "This is Thea, your second cousin." Lilly looked at the other girl and gave a chipper

"Hello!" Thea returned the greeting and both girls looked at Harry as if to say, "Now what?" Harry, sensing their indecision, resolved to answer the unspoken question.

"Why don't you two go outside and meet the boys or go upstairs so Lilly can show Thea around? Thea?" Lilly started to protest, but her father quickly cut her off, "She's the guest. She gets to decide. " The adults and Lilly looked at the youngest expectantly.

"I… I would like to go outside." She glanced at her red-headed counterpart and added, "Please." Lilly nodded, and the two girls joined hands and rushed outside, swerving to avoid Ginny as they did so.

"Well," Ginny watched the children exit, "I think I'll go outside and leave the two of you to talk." She gave Harry a kiss on the cheek before reminding him, "Remember, we were going to meet Ron and Hermione in Diagon Alley in a couple of hours."

"Alright, dear." He gazed after her with longing eyes as she walked out to the patio. Dudley coughed, and Harry returned his attention back to his cousin as they both sat, Harry with a little blood in his cheeks and a smile that quickly dried up as he recalled the gravity of the situation.

"Dudley." Blue eyes met green. "I need to know why you're here. I can tell something's wrong."

The larger man ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Harry…" He trailed off again before saying, with the air of someone confessing a crime. "They came."

Harry started forward. "Who? Who came?" His worst fears had been realized. He had separated from his only living family twenty-three years ago to prevent them from being targeted, and now it seemed as though their precautions had been in vain. He hadn't exactly like his family, but he didn't want them dead.

"The Ministry."

"The Ministry? You need my help with a legal battle? Dudley, you know I'm not a lawyer, right?" Harry was confused to say the least.

"Not my Ministry. Yours." Now Harry's mouth hung agape.

"My… My Ministry? You can't mean, the Ministry of Magic?"

Dudley began to talk faster as though ready to unload his burden. "Yes, the Ministry of Magic. Two weeks ago, Dorothea turned eleven, and we got an _owl_, Harry, an owl! Five minutes later, some lady named Susan Bones was on our doorstep and said that our little girl, our only child, was a _witch_. Harry, I didn't know what to do. There've been a couple of weird things happen, but I _never_ thought… It took me a week to find you. Harry, I need your help."His monologue now done, Dudley began to slow his breathing as he tried to calm down. All Harry could do was stare. Before long, he began to revive and said,

"Well, I don't suppose Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were too happy, were they?" At this, Dudley began to panic again.

"I didn't tell them! I have no idea how they'll react to the idea of their only grandchild being a witch!"

"Dudley!" Harry bellowed to get his attention. "It will be okay!" He continued to speak in a softer tone, "Look, we're going school shopping in about," Harry looked at the watch that had once belonged to Fabian Prewett, "one hour. You can join us if you wish and see Dorothea, is that Thea's real name?, in her first experience with the Wizarding World. You can be there to support her. I think she needs it."

"You think so? You really think I can do this?" Harry considered.

"Yes, for her, I think you can. Besides, you won't be the first Muggle that's had to go through this."

"Really?" There was hope in Dudley's face.

"Of course. Hermione's, my best friend's, parents are Muggles, not to mention our grandparents, now that I think about it. You'll be fine. You love Thea, don't you?"

Dudley looked slightly offended. "Of course! She's my baby."

"Then it's settled. Do you want to break the news or shall I?"

Dudley thought for a moment, then smiled. "Well, I'm not doing it. I guess that leaves you." Harry smiled at Dudley's travesty of a joke as well.

Outside, a certain blonde and a certain red-head were making plans. Well, Lily was making plans. Thea, whose name was actually Dorothea Dursley, as Lily had found out by now, had remained quiet as her cousin continued her incessant jabbering. It was not that Thea couldn't talk nor was it that she didn't like her new-found cousin. Truthfully, Thea had never been very talkative. She had always enjoyed herself much more playing the part of the Observer, or "being seen and not heard" as her grandparents put it, standing outside the conversation making note of whatever happened to catch her interest, and right now, that happened to be Lily.

So far, she had learned that her cousin was one year older than herself and set to be starting her Second Year at Hogwarts, whatever that was. She had also been told of Lily's parents, Ginny and Harry Potter, who had careers as a former professional Quidditch (Thea's first reaction had been to snicker when she heard the word, even though she had no idea what it meant) player turned journalist (she was pleased to hear a career she recognized) and an Auror (which sounded much more respectable than _Quidditch_), respectively, and she had been vicariously introduced to James and Albus Potter, the poor souls who didn't yet know they were about to be ambushed.

In listening to all this, she had found that she absolutely adored her cousin. The little blonde couldn't resist such a forceful, outspoken personality and wished she could be just like her. Instead, she cursed herself that she sat here on the green grass outside the Potter house like a silent, ignorant lump and decided that she did not, under any circumstances, ever want to know what Lily's first impression of her was . Thea grimaced silently at the thought, sure that, whatever it may be, it could not be good.

Lily, on the other hand, had been watching her cousin the whole time she had been speaking. The red-head leaned back against the wall, demonstrating with her hand the plan of attack as she looked closely at Thea's now grimacing face, and stopped babbling for the first time since she had met her father's relative.

"Are you alright?" There was no reply, only a soft smile on Thea's pink lips.

"Thea?" The other girl glanced up and met Lily's eyes but still said nothing. Lily groaned in exasperation.

"Thea, I'm not going to shut up until you tell me what's wrong." Lily hadn't expected any response, so she was taken aback when she saw Thea's blue eyes glimmer in amusement.

"Really? I'm surprised there's anything left to talk about." Lily gaped before recovering.

"Hey, I'm not that bad! You should hear Albus talk." Again, Lily was surprised with the speed of Thea's retort.

"That your brother behaves regretfully is no reason for you to do so." Oh, now Thea was going to get it!

"Oh, yeah? Well tell me, little miss, if you don't like me talking so much, why don't you say something?" Lily crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow, something she had seen her Uncle George do several times. Thea laughed gently.

"I was under the impression I was." She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew she had Lily floundering like a fish. To her, it just made the entire conversation funnier. Nobody ever expected her sense of humor when she finally did open her mouth. She just wished that Lily would stop trying to comeback, so she was glad when Lily laughed too.

"Truce, truce! Oh, I can't wait to get you and Rose in a room together! The look on her face will be priceless! You're sure you're only eleven?" Thea giggled, then sighed. Why was it that no one could believe that an eleven-year old could be smart? It wasn't illegal, and it wasn't unheard of.

"Yes, I'm eleven. Who's Rose?" she added, her face brightening again.

"Just my older cousin. She's in Ravenclaw and wicked smart too, but I think you could blow the pants off her. " The smaller of the two flushed and laughed, grateful for the compliment, before she realized exactly what her new friend-cousin had said.

"What, may I ask, exactly is Ravenclaw?" As Lily looked at her new friend incredulously, Thea blushed. She didn't like appearing ignorant. She hated ignorance in other people, so she considered it a worse crime that she should seem as such. The blush only deepened as Lily seemed to have trouble getting over her shock. It seemed to Thea that she had just committed a major faux pas. Finally, Lily regained the ability to speak and exclaimed loudly,

"What's Ravenclaw? You're kidding right? Only one of the four houses of Hogwarts! You can't have not known that." She paused as the younger child hung her head and seemed very close to tears of shame. Lily hesitated some more before plunging onward, "You do know what Hogwarts is, right?" Thea looked up frantically with a few tear tracks on her face.

"Yes! Well, no…" She trailed off uncertainly. Lily frowned, concerned.

"But you're eleven, aren't you? How could you not know? You're going to start going this year, right?" The look of anguish returned to Thea's face, and Lily wondered if these extreme moods were safe for the blonde's health.

"Yeah, I guess." The little girl calmed as she screwed up her face, which was regaining some of its normal color, as she brought back the bizarre memory. "At least, the lady in the robes said that I was going to. Daddy asked a lot of questions, but I really didn't understand. She just said I was special and was going to go to a special school called Hogwarts, and then later Daddy told Mummy we were going to visit his cousin, and we came here." Her breathing slowed down. She hadn't understood it then, and she didn't understand it now, and, given that she hated ignorance, she hadn't been okay in the least with the situation. But now, here was someone who seemed to know something and she could get answers!

Lily sucked in a breath and held it. She had automatically assumed Thea was a witch, never mind a Muggle-born. It wasn't that she had anything against Muggle-borns. After all, her Aunt Hermione was one, and they absolutely adored each other, even if Aunt Hermione could be a little know-it-all. On second thought, she supposed it was a big know-it-all, but she loved Aunt Hermione with all her heart. She just never thought that she would be the one to tell a Muggle-born about magic, and she could tell that that was where this conversation was heading. The red-head finally breathed again.

"Thea…" The other girl looked up but wouldn't meet her eyes. "Have you ever done something when you were mad, sad, or frightened? Anything at all?" When the small girl gasped and meet her older relative's eyes, she knew she had been right.

"How did you know?" she breathed, amazed that anyone could even guess. She had always tried to hide anything that might be construed as unnatural. Despite her best efforts, notes had been sent home from school, and some things had happened around the house that confused her mother, but her father had always passed them off as something mundane, normal when even Dorothea knew they were not. Lily was smiling.

"Because the same things happened to me." Thea squealed in excitement.

"Really! Then you know what it is?"

"Yes…" Thea protested her cousin's hesitance.

"What? What is it? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Lily sighed audibly, and Thea felt her chest constrict. Oh, no, this wasn't good.

"It's Magic." Thea stopped breathing entirely. Magic, it wasn't real, it couldn't be real. Grandfather Vernon and Grandmother Petunia had always said it wasn't, and Dad has agreed- albeit half-heartedly. It just wasn't real. But if it wasn't, then why did she feel this way? Like a weight had been lifted? Like this was natural? She wondered, why couldn't magic be real, and then she decided it was.

"Magic," she whispered, "I can do magic." She looked up at her cousin as her little face broke into the most dazzling smile. So taken in was she by Thea's excitement, Lily felt the corners of her own mouth stretch upward.

"Lily!" squealed Thea again, "I can do magic!" She threw back her blonde hair and laughed merrily before standing up and prancing around. Lily felt the air around her stir and almost cursed as she realized Thea probably was controlling it without realizing what she was doing, which could be dangerous. Unbothered, the newly-discovered witch continued to dance gaily until she, too, realized that the sudden breeze was her own. The eddies of air were swirling as she conducted them, whipping the girls' hair and rustling the grass. Upon her discovery, Thea automatically brought her arms down and stood stock still. As she had feared, her control as almost gone, for the breeze continue its wild motion, even daring to be rougher than before. Thea wrestled with herself momentarily for control. Her happiness at discovering magic was gone. Real or no, it simply wasn't normal. The small girl-child's brow furrowed as she felt within herself, gripping the power that had escaped and wrenching it back into its long-established keeping-place. The magic, as she now knew it to be, swelled in force as a protest, threatening to explode from her and within her. Using all her effort to prevent its breaking free, she fainted.

Recovering her awareness took a couple minutes. She could feel the grass tickling the back of her shirt as she opened her eyes. The first thing she registered was brown, and then, brown blinked.

"Lily!" She gasped, sitting up on her elbows and scooting away. Undeterred, the other girl only came closer, babbling a stream of concerns about Thea's sudden collapse.

"It's so wonderful that you're okay. What happened?" Thea responded, deliberately absentminded,

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rolling to her feet, she whispered, now attempting to sound conspiratorial, "So, are we going to attack Albus and James now?" Lily's eyes narrowed in suspicion at the avoidance of her other question before she grinned like the Cheshire Cat from Aunt Hermione's Muggle fairy tales.

"Yes," she hissed back. "Do you remember which way to go?" Thea gave a nod, which Lily returned, and off they went.


	2. Chapter 2: Tired

**I am so sorry that it took me so long to update, but I have an excuse. This entry is almost the size of the other three chapters put together. (By the way, I've condensed those into a single chapter.) I made one very important change to what was Chapter Three, so you may want to go back and read that. I've also made some smaller edits (is that a word?) to information of which I was made aware after publication. **

**I'm trying. I'm afraid the end of this gets kind of dull. I'm forcing myself to go through all this, but I really just want to write about Thea's thoughts on the car ride home. Review please. Some encouragement might make this less... colorless. **

**I own nothing! (except the plot and my Little D) **

The slim blonde walked quickly along the back of the house, keeping watch on both her targets and on Lily, who was making a circuit along the edge of the woods. She had distracted Lily with attacking the boys and now had to distract the boys so Lily could launch the attack from behind, which meant staying out in the open and attracting attention, but she just didn't feel comfortable. After what had just happened- she tried not to think about what had caused her collapse- she would have liked to have gone inside and lain down, but this was not her house. She did not belong here, especially with… Well, she still would not think about it. Instead, she thought of James and Albus, whom she hadn't even met yet, and, here she was, already playing the antagonist. She would much rather approach honestly, and, to be frank, more quietly- the spotlight had never been her "thing," but she had already put Lily's, who was too close now to not to see it through, plan in motion.

She continued to move forward as Mrs. Potter came into view, standing at the door. Blood rushed to color her cheeks as she realized Ginny would witness everything she was about to do. Even though Thea had a feeling she was royally screwing up first impressions today, she also sensed a certain vivacity in her father's cousin's wife and desperately hoped that the woman who so resembled Lily would also have her sense of humor. Ignoring her misgivings, the younger female acknowledged the older and moved to center herself in front of Mrs. Potter, facing the woman's sons. Thea waited patiently for her cousins to stop their bickering (Lily had been correct: Albus could be quite the chatterbox.) and notice their visitor. She was eventually rewarded when the green-eyed boy grinned as he caught her eye and elbowed his brown-eyed counterpart. While James took a few seconds to look around confusedly, Albus began walking towards Thea. The moment he reached her, he gave a smile that went all the way up to his very expressive green eyes. He stuck out his hand for her to shake, saying as he did so,

"Hullo! I'm Albus, and" Albus paused as James, having finally realized what was happening, ran up to the pair. "this is my somewhat slow brother, James." James scoffed good-naturedly at his brother before interjecting his own,

"Hi, there!" Thea could do nothing other than smile, even forgetting earlier events as she took Albus's hand, then James's, as she expressed her own pleasure at meeting the two of them, adding,

"My name is Dorothea Dursley." She stopped as soon as she realized she had given her real name. She highly disliked the name Dorothea and had no idea why the word had just come out of her mouth. She blamed it on the fact that Albus, whom she already knew was more commonly known as Al, had given his real name as well. She reddened slightly before continuing,

"But you can call me Thea." In the meantime, James and Albus were looking at each other, conversing quietly, very much like they were trying to recall some half-remembered fact that neither could find on his own. Behind the two, Thea could see her partner in crime stalk forward and knew that it was probably in Lily's and her best interest to keep included in the conversation, even if the conversation wasn't hers. Feeling slightly guilty, the little witch sighed and asked,

"Hel-lo?" The boys turned to Thea with the same expression of concentration on their faces; she had to bit her lip to stop from laughing at the similarity between the two. Lowering her voice to let them know just how exclusively they have been talking she questioned,

"What are you two discussing so secretively?" The elder brother brightened slightly as the younger only increased his frown in continued thought.

"Oh. That. We just thought that the name Dursley sounded familiar. We've been trying to place it but can't seem to." James gave a small smile. "We know it's not any of our cousins, 'cause they're all Weasleys, and it's not anybody who fought in the War, is it, Al?" Albus replied hesitantly, still deep in his own mind.

"I don't think so. I've never seen a Dursley on the lists of fighters, dead, or survivors." Dorothea wondered exactly which war they were talking about. As she mused, James responded to his brother,

"I 'spose you're right. I don't think it's anybody at Hogwarts either."

"Again, I agree."

"But I really, really think it has something to do with somebody's cousin."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Didn't Dad live with an aunt and uncle for several years?"

"Yes! Of course! He saved his cousin from some dementors!" Dorothea watched their whooping with a good deal of amusement as they continued to discuss her family. She wondered what dem- whatsists were, and why her father needed saving.

"Oh-o! Now we've got it! What was his name?"

"Vernon, maybe?"

"Nah, that was the uncle. Started with a 'D.' "

"Daniel?"

"No, that's Dad's dad's," James paused for a moment as attempted to recite the appropriate number of generations. "dad. More like Dud… Dud…" The stammering seemed go on forever, until Thea couldn't take it any longer.

"Dudley." The two gave brilliant smiles and high-fived each other in victory.

"Yes!" Albus took this in for one second longer than James before asking what had come to mind.

"But how did you know?" She giggled at their complete obliviousness before answering the, well, obvious question.

"Because he's my dad." The two boys looked at her in awe.

"So that makes you our…" James looked to his younger brother for support. Albus huffed a little in exasperation before supplying,

"Our second cousin. But that's not the important question. Why," Here, the quizzical boy paused for emphasis, "have we not seen you before?" His inquiry came within earshot of Ginny, who mused in the doorway over the same conundrum, for while she knew about her husband's family's-if they could be called that- attitudes towards "their lot," which accounted for any extended absence, she did not understand why the man was here now nor how he got through the enchantments on the house(she would discuss that with Harry later). The little girl, on the other hand, perked up, happy to have a question that she could answer easily.

"Well-" The smile abruptly disappeared because suddenly the query did not seem so easily resolved. Her father had only told her on the drive up that he even had a cousin. She knew everyone's name because of Lily's lecture. She honestly knew nothing about this part of her family before that morning and had no idea why that was. Thea frowned and lifted her shoulders slightly to who her confusion as she picked back up on her abandoned response, "I really have no i-" her voice trailed off once more as the scene unfolding behind her cousin's heads completely captured her attention. "-dea." She finished softly before motion ceased to be. The corners of her mouth turned down more and her eyebrows furrowed together as, in the background, she realized that her only female cousin was sitting _in mid-air._ The red-head was really _flying,_ on what seemed, from her vantage point, nothing more than a long stick. In the moment she grasped that she was in over her head, the weight that had lifted earlier came crashing down again. Her breathes were gradually becoming shallower as her pupils dilated in extreme awe. James peered at her in concern.

"Hey! Um, Dorothea?" He floundered in his attempt to get her name right. "No, no… Thea! Are you okay?" Still speechless, Thea closed her eyes and shook her head as though trying to clear her vision, blonde hair flying everywhere. As she returned her gaze to whatever horror alighted before her, she brought her hand up, one oddly steady finger extended.

As the only adult in the vicinity, Ginny almost started forward, anxious to see what was wrong with the child. The witch had not noted anything extraordinary; the her two sons had been making polite conversation, of course, they did not dare to be less than such, not with their mother clearly in eyesight and hearing range. Lily had made a circuit around the edge of the woods before grabbing and riding her broom- Ginny knew she really ought to get onto her children about leaving their possessions in disarray- presumably, to dive bomb the boys, which, as the only daughter, she had become fond of doing. She was in the air now. It was perfectly normal- to her. The realization made the mother of three stop in her tracks. Maybe everything seemed fine to her, but the girl's father was a Muggle, for Merlin's sake. Thea had probably never imagined that flying broomsticks were real. Deciding the poor dear might need some reassurances or explanations, Ginny approached once again.

Unnoticed by Thea, who was still in a state of shock, James and Albus turned curiously to face the supposed terror behind them. They could had seen their mother draw nearer with only an expression of slight concern on her face, which in no way paralleled with Thea's obvious fear. What they found was neither demons, nor dementors, nor the freaky Voldemort snake-man of their parents' stories. To their immense relief, `they found only their airborne little sister, predictably preparing to attack her unsuspecting brothers. James and Albus sighed in unison, exasperated by Lily's antics.

"Lily!" Albus called. "You have really got to stop trying to sneak up on us! It's really starting to be predictable!" On the ground, the rest of the family could hear Lily start to utter a line of curses, her mother included.

"Lily Luna Potter! You will stop using that sort of language in my house, or so help me, I will wash out that mouth before you can land!" Lily immediately clamped her mouth shut while continuing to circle lower over her family. She landed, feet already sprinting across the green grass, gouging into the dirt as she came to a stop. She turned her brown-eyed gaze on her cousin.

"I thought you were going to distract them." The blonde only continued to stare. "Thea!" Ginny decided she'd had enough.

"Lily! Your brothers are right. You really need to stop trying to provoke them," she held up a hand to halt any forthcoming protestations and continued more gently, "and now is not the time to berate your cousin. Thea?" She questioned, in very much the same manner as her son, "Are you alright?" The girl's shoulders convulsed in an attempt to regain control. Eyes unfocused, she began stammering,

"It's not… not _normal_." It was an expression her grandparents used very often, and she had always been fascinated by those three words because she never understood what exactly Grandfather and Grandmother meant in saying it, despite the fact that normal was what she strived to be. Now, she thought she had a pretty good idea. Ginny felt a stab of sympathy for the little witch. She desperately wished Hermione were there.

"Look, Thea. Look at me." The small blonde finally met Ginny's eyes with her own, the tight, lined corners relaxing as they met the calming, assured, warm brown gaze. "Everything's fine." Ginny never felt more like her mother than at times like these. "It's just Lily. You aren't scared of Lily, are you?" Ginny knew she had gotten it right now. Thea's eyes focused, and she stood up a little straighter, seeming somewhat affronted.

"Of course not! It's just… she was in the air. How is that even possible?" Thea knew she was getting tired. She had seen too much that day. She couldn't take it in anymore.

"See that?" Ginny pointed as Thea nodded. "That's a broomstick. When you get on it, you can fly." Thea was on the verge of stomping her pretty little foot. She wanted to know how and had to ask Ginny one more time before the woman would answer.

"Magic, Thea, Magic." There was the magic thing again. Thea was really starting to see that, unbound by mortal protocol or, say, laws of physics, anything could be possible and decided that such freedom was unsafe. Unbidden, an audacious, ridiculous idea entered her mind, and she couldn't stop herself from asking,

"Can I try?" Ginny smiled, relieved that Thea was taking some interest. From what she had gathered the conversation she overheard in the living room, Thea would be around magic for the rest of her life.

"James, I want you to go with Thea on her first time." For some "bizarre" reason, Ginny felt that having the daughter of her husband's cousin fall off a broom on said child's first visit would be a bad idea.

"Yes, Mum." James ducked his head and went to pick up his broom before motioning Thea over. The blonde paused in silent admonishments of herself-for even daring to ask to go on _that thing_- before walking silently over to her black-haired cousin. She stopped immediately before him and simply took a very long look at the broom, from the well-polished handle to the fine twigs at the tail. She wondered if either was an indication of speed or height.

"Just swing your leg over." James, it seemed, was getting impatient. She considered delaying her mount, just for the purpose of messing with James, but decided to play nice and comply promptly. The older boy automatically reached out to fix her grip on the broom, explaining as he did so why this particular grip was best for stability. Maybe he was just trying to be helpful, after all. After examining the rest of her form critically, making comments here and there, he seated himself in front of her on the broom, forcing her to readjust her grip and forcing him to correct it once more. James looked over his shoulder at Thea, who was now ramrod stiff with apprehension.

"Ready?" All the girl could do was nod. James smiled, more than happy to have a chance to be in the air again. "On the count of three… One… Two… Three." The boy bent his knees and heaved off the ground on the last count, causing the two to shoot like a cork into the air. James let out a whoop of excitement that was quickly cut off by a pair of arms constricting around his chest. Behind him, the new flier he had almost forgotten had tucked her knees under the broom, while tightening her grip on the handle and pulling into James with her shoulders as she squeezed him with her upper arms. Slowly, the broom began to tilt down.

"Thea…" James said her name in a hiss, a small side effect of not having any air. "You really have to let go." Thankfully, she did. Resisting the urge to massage his ribs, he told her,

"Maybe it would be better if you just held onto my waist, so the broom doesn't get confused." It was her tight grip on the handle that hand caused the broom to try to descend, probably because Thea wanted to go back down, but she had asked for this, and he really didn't want to loose the freedom of being a bird just yet.

"A broom can get confused?" The girl behind him asked.

"Yes." He was glad that she asked. "The broom can sense your grip on it, so it can go where you want it to. Just then, you wanted to go down, didn't you?" He could barely hear her response.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Yeah, a little, but I still want to fly some." That was all James needed. He knew he couldn't go very fast or practice any complicated maneuvers with his cousin on board but still enjoyed just being on a broom and free. He could feel his cousin relaxing, even if she still wasn't saying anything, so he continued to fly in lazy patterns, until he saw his father and a man he never, ever seen before walk out the back door. The strange man seemed to search for something in the yard before he pointed a finger at James and Thea and yelped. James didn't need Thea's stiffening against him to know that the man's yelp was his cue to make a landing. The very instant the two's feet touched the ground, the new guy, who had spent all his time between the yelp and now conversing rapidly with Harry, swiftly ran up Thea and lifted her from the broom. James could now see the similarities in their coloring and faces.

"Dorothea! Are you alright? Are you scared?" The man, whom James supposed to be Thea's father, had now set her down so she could stand on her own.

"No, Daddy. I am perfectly fine." Relief evident on his face, Dudley took his daughter up in a tight hug.

"Oh, please, don't ever do that to me again." Harry stepped forward and cautiously laid his hand on one of Dudley's shoulders.

"Broomsticks are perfectly safe. I'm sure the ride was just fine, wasn't it?" Thinking that "just fine" didn't exactly describe her flight with James, Thea took a moment to nod quietly. Dudley peered closely into his daughter's face to assure himself that she was, indeed, safe and, standing, nodded as well. Harry was the third to nod, pleased with his cousin's acceptance of at least one element of magic.

"Good. Now," he turned to look at Thea, " your father and I discussed your going out with our family and some friends. Would you like to come?" The girl looked at him as their mutual family stood around. She asked simply,

"Where?" She didn't know if she was tired or thrilled by the prospect of another outing.

Harry glanced side-long at Dudley, answering somewhat evasively,

"School shopping." Realization flashed in blue eyes.

"So I'm going to that school? To…" She fought to remember what Lily had called it. "Hogwarts?" Thea looked at her father, who nodded. At his confirmation, she felt apprehension, instead of the happiness she had anticipated, tightened in her belly. Still, she answered Harry,

"Okay." The tall black-haired man gave her a smile that she returned tentatively. The quiet reigning over the scene since she had landed broke. Ginny went over to her husband and his cousin to discuss what happened when plans were made without her as the children swarmed to Thea, chattering about the fun they would have, everything they would see, and how excited they were. She tuned them out, still unsure as to if she would be thrilled or just plain tired.

**Please review. I think I need it. **


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